6 comments:

Anonymous
said...

He must be playing hurt. Either give him a good workup with MRI's and all that good diagnostic stuff, or at least skip a start. Did anyone notice that Vogelsong is pitching better in the majors than Zito is pitching in single A.

Last three starts, my man, three starts. After the shutout of the A's, Tim beat the Brewers (a waaaaaayyyyyy better hitting club) with 7 strong (6 hits, 3 runs, ZERO walks, 4 K). A Game Score of 57 is pretty good, certainly not "crap." His career average GSc is 60, but his average GSc for 2011 was, you guessed it, 57. We saw this is August of last season and he bounced back from that, wouldn't you say?

The bigger problem is the offense. They can't hit at all. They can't score runs even when they do hit, and it matters little who is pitching. Mike Leake just topped 200 IP for his ML CAREER. It's pathetic. You cannot expect the pitchers to do ALL the work and shoulder the ENTIRE LOAD. The Giants have to get some hits and score some runs.

There were SEVEN clubs in the NL that scored fewer runs than the Giants in 2010. Their 4.30 rpg was very nearly league-aveage (4.33). Only five clubs hit more homers than the Giants. There was at least a semblance of an offense last season. This season TEN clubs have more homers. This season ONLY THE PADRES have scored fewer runs. Even the PIRATES have scored more!!!

Last year the brass recognized the crisis and did something about it. This year we got Bill Hall. Let's hope there's something more on the way. Walk-off 1-run wins are fun, but they are NOT going to last. The long attritional grind of the season will even things out, and those lucky breaks will go the other way.

Like I said before, I don't believe in magic. I believe in RS > RA. I'm confident our RA side is up to the task. Tim will be Tim again real soon. Even Roger Clemens and Tom Seaver and Pedro Martinez had bad outings! I worry more and more every day about the RS side.

The Chronic this morning cited Tim over-concerned with his mechanics, not his body. I have to agree with Mark, up to a point. Tim is not the problem, however, picking up Bill Hall was exactly the right thing to do. What do you think the asking price for a hitter would be? Wheeler AND Belt? No one is going to trade for an anemic Huff at $11 mil or a Zito at $19 mil. You don't trade away a bright, young future for old, temporary help. Pudge? Batting .200. You tough it out until your injuries heal. What we need is for a few guys to pick it up - Huff/Rowand/Burrell.

OK, the last three. But another fact I left out about this one is his lowest EVER game score, 17.

I am impressed with MOC's steady concern...I don' agree, but I'm impressed. We are in first for ONE reason and we all know it. We can win this division with this squad if we PITCH like we currently are, NOT only if we hit better.

Also, I disagree with the knee jerk "unsustainable" mantra. Great pitching destroys logic. Champions are defined by beating the odds. We will not start losing close games due to regression. We will continue to win close games due to talent.

The Giants found a couple of diamonds in the rough last season who made big contributions--Ross and Burrell. I expect they will try do the same this year. They had a few needs--like bullpen help--and they filled them. The team had the starting pitching to win, and needed some complementary pieces. This year's team has the starters and relievers to win, but not the lineup. With Posey gone, they need a hitter. I expect nothing from Burrell. Tejada might be able to give us a little Uribe/Renteria stretch vibe, but it's iffy. Huff ought to see a change in fortunes--I can't believe he's this bad. It has to get better, but as good as last year? Sure, Bill Hall could have a great run, or he could just as likely be Jose Guillen. Someone like Crawford (asking a lot) or Schierholtz (his big chance?) will have to step up. I love our pitching, but you see what happens when the runs are too few--a .500 homestand. They should have run the fucking table!! Bumgarner got hosed twice!! The return of The New Panda will be a huge lift, I'm sure. Yeah, I know, I'm whining. Seriously though, they could easily have gone 8-2 in that stretch, and I hate those missed chances.